Emily Armstrong's Presence At Linkin Park Not In Lieu Of Chester Bennington

Emily Armstrong, Linkin Park's new vocalist (Instagram @linkinpark)

JAKARTA - The appointment of Emily Armstrong as Linkin Park's new vocalist has drawn a lot of criticism. Unmitigated, the mother and daughter of the late Chester Bennington also spoke up.

Although he did not immediately respond to Bennington's mother and child criticism, Mike Shinoda said Armstrong's presence was not a substitute for the old vocalist who had passed away in 2017.

"This is meant to be a new chapter of Linkin Park," Mike told Radio 1, citing the BBC, Thursday, September 26.

"The old chapter is a great round and we love that round," he continued.

Shinoda felt Linkin Park's journey with Bennington was over, and Armstrong's presence was a new challenge with a different 'noise'.

"We just slowly got together and then finally everything started going smoothly with Emily and with Colin, our new drummer," said Shinoda.

"We talked about putting his voice in the things we've written, which only had my voice in it," he continued.

"Once we do, we're like, 'it sounds really good, we have to try it on more songs'."

Shinode chose to focus on Armstrong's singing, saying that passion is the driving force of his voice.

"When he sings, it's like passion, and he's 100 percent himself. That's the best part," he said.

"He's not trying to be Chester, he's not trying to be someone else. He's himself and that's why it worked," concluded Mike Shinode.